Written by Dave Kolonich

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Stuff from all over today, beginning with my favorite theme of yesterday – homework – and the fourth pillars of society that sometimes just forget.

Florio on Mangini:

When I interviewed Browns coach Eric Mangini last week for our season preview magazine (have I mentioned that we’re doing a season preview magazine?), he offered a similar observation regarding the question of whether new team president Mike Holmgren views Mangini’s second year on the job as a one-year proposition.  “Mike has never given me the sense that it’s a one-year situation, but I think what I’m learning more and more is each year’s a one-year situation, regardless of the contract,” Mangini said.  “You’ve got to continually make strides.”

 

I can’t figure out which is funnier – Florio doing a print magazine or interviewing Mangini.  

Can you only imagine a Pro Football Talk season preview magazine?  What exactly would they be previewing?  Up and coming homoerotic gossip and innuendo?

As for the second point, I wonder if Mangini has any idea the volumes of nearly libelous filth Florio has written about him.  For about three years now, Florio has had a murder boner for Mangini of an apocolyptic nature.  And now, Florio is suddenly interested in the thoughts of the man he has continually villified?

I guess this is what ”access” is all about.   

As for the “one-year” comment, maybe this is what Florio was chasing all along.  After all, if anyone would refuse to give Mangini the benefit of the doubt – even though Mike Holmgren has clearly already done this – it would be Florio. 

Anyway, onto more legitimate sources…Kind of….

Kokinis Returns to Ravens

After a failed experiment as the GM of the Cleveland Browns last season, George Kokinis has returned to his roots in Baltimore.

The Ravens announced that Kokinis had joined the team as a senior personnel assistant on Tuesday. He was with the Ravens for 18 years, which included time in Cleveland when the franchise was known as the Browns.

Let’s call this news from the Department of Obvious.

After a few months of pretending to be an NFL GM, Kokinis ends up right back where he started from, safely nestled under the wing of Ozzie Newsome.

And the world moves on….obviously….  

USA Today – Browns Organizational Report

The “H-bomb” has landed, and that is good news for Cleveland Browns backers desperate to see the end of the football devastation that has haunted their city for decades.

New team president Mike Holmgren and general manager Tom Heckert think they can detonate the recent past and construct a new future for the downtrodden franchise. Browns fans pray the partnership can re-energize and reorganize what has been a calamity.

Since re-entering the NFL in 1999, the Browns have endured fits and starts in the front office and the coaching staff. In 11 years, the franchise has employed six general managers and/or vice presidents of football operations, four team presidents and five head coaches.

The lack of stability weakened them, as did the death of owner Al Lerner in 2002. His son, Randy, an Ivy League-educated lawyer, has been portrayed as being indifferent to owning an NFL team. (The billionaire declined to be interviewed for this story.)

“I think Randy gets a bit of a bum rap,” Holmgren says. “His father was kind of larger than life, and the (Browns) were given to Randy overnight. Quite the contrary — he is interested. When he sat in my living room in Arizona (while courting Holmgren), he said, ‘Maybe I want this too much for Cleveland, the fans and my family.’

“He really cares.”

Considering the source, this is still a pretty solid Browns breakdown.  It’s probably worth taking a few minutes to read.

Anyway, to continue the Kokinis theme – meaning let’s talk about the guy who inexplicably thought he was hiring a GM – again, the defense of Randy Lerner continues.

To sum up the two most convincing arguments Browns fans make regarding Lerner:

1.  He’s not Art Modell.

2.  He cares.  He just cares so much.

As to point #1, great.  It’s good to have an owner with money.

As for #2, merely “caring” is not quite enough.  If Lerner truly “cared” as much as people claim he does, he would have hired a Mike Holmgren type seven years ago, ignored the whispers of every single Browns great in the process and created the type of functional management found by every other successful NFL organization.

But at least he “cares.”  That counts for something, right?

As my blood pressure subsides, let’s move on to some more pressing issues.  Something the rest of us probably “care” about…

Heckert and RFA’s

The Browns took the procedural step Tuesday of extending qualifying offers to their five unsigned restricted free agents, General Manager Tom Heckert confirmed.

The next move belongs to the players. If they don’t sign the one-year contract tenders by June 15, the club has the option to substitute a 10 percent raise over their 2009 base salaries. In four of the five cases, the substitute offers would be more than $1 million less than the ones currently on the table.

Heckert has said the club is considering using the substitute option if the players don’t sign.

The players involved are safety Abram Elam, running back Jerome Harrison, linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, linebacker Matt Roth and fullback Lawrence Vickers. All but Harrison have been absent from off-season workouts, which are voluntary. Harrison joined the workouts last week after signing an injury waiver.

You could consider this a stare-down or square-off of sorts, if you will – but truly, this move is simply an acknowledgement of reality. 

Either these five RFA’s – who clearly have no leverage – need to collect a decent 2010 salary or nothing at all. 

I changed my mind – why are we still talking about this?

Finally, how about something worth caring about?

Ohio.com – Rubin

Rubin, however, has resisted falling prey to hype. Production, not expectation, has carried him this far. Last Thursday at organized team activities, Rubin insisted he’s not planning to change his approach anytime soon.

”That would be great if that happens,” Rubin said of possibly starting alongside Rogers. ”I just can’t really worry about that too much. I just come out and practice and try to show Mangini that if he does give me the chance, I can make the best of it.”

The likelihood Rubin will receive more opportunities increased when Rogers, who’s been sidelined during OTAs while he continues to rehabilitate his ankle, was arrested in early April for possessing a loaded gun at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The severity of Rogers’ punishment remains unclear, but a suspension from the league appears imminent.

I’ve mentioned it before and surely will again – Rubin is the key to the Browns’ 2010 defensive fortunes. 

While not considered a “superstar” like Shaun Rogers, Rubin brings a rare sense of stability to the nose tackle position – something that hasn’t been seen in nearly a half decade.  Although Rogers is far superior in terms of overall athletic ability, Rubin proved late last season that he can do the dirty work necessary at the position.

And clearly, he’s getting better.

Which is something worth talking – and “caring” about.